PAL union asks govt to block mass retrenchment

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (Palea) wants the government to reject the planned mass retrenchment of its members.

In a statement, Gerry Rivera, Palea president, said the service agreement between PAL and Skykitchen Philippines Inc., as well as the customer service agreement with ePLDT Ventus “violate the PAL-Palea collective bargaining agreement [CBA] by contracting out existing positions and jobs that are occupied and performed by regular employees.”

About 3,000 PAL employees will be affected by the planned retrenchment.

The Lucio Tan-led airline earlier forged a deal with these third party firms in an attempt to spin off non-core units to save on costs and stem losses.

Under the agreements, Sky-kitchen will take over PAL’s catering department while ePLDT Ventus will service the flag carrier’s call center operations.

Palea said it has yet to acquire a copy of the agreement with Sky-logistics, the company that will handle PAL’s ground and passenger handling.

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) assumed jurisdiction over the PAL-Palea dispute starting April in view of a notice of strike filed in January.

The union has a pending motion for reconsideration on Labor department’s decision to proceed with the layoff, which was issued by then acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman on June 1.

Rivera said that based on the documents obtained from PAL “it is crystal clear that the financial position of the company does not warrant the retrenchment of some 3,000 union members.

“PAL’s audited financial statements for the years 1997 up to 2007, as well as the supplement to the amended and restated rehabilitation plan, show that PAL successfully implemented its rehabilitation plan which belies its claims that its rehabilitation experience is the precursor of the crisis that it now allegedly confronts,” he said.

After PAL emerged from rehabilitation in 2007, Rivera said the company’s financial health was revealed by the expansion of its fleet. From 35 aircraft in 2008, the company’s fleet increased to 47 in 2009.

In a separate statement, PAL insisted that it posted “massive losses” amounting to $312 million in the last two years because of the global recession.

Besides the bad economy, the airline said high fuel prices, the unabated liberalization of the commercial aviation industry, and the recent blacklisting of Philippine carriers by the European Union forced the company to implement the restructuring plan.

PAL said these factors rendered the company uncompetitive.

“While there is a noticeable increase in travel in recent months and a better income forecast by IATA [International Airline Transport Association], it doesn’t mean that PAL is out of the woods. To remain competitive in the future, it must strictly adhere to a survival plan that includes the spin-off of three noncore units,” PAL said.

The airline earlier reported a profit of $31.6 million from April to June, 11 percent lower than last year.

PAL attributed the earnings to the “usual strong demand during the summer vacation.”

The flag-carrier’s revenues went up by 30 percent to $426.7 million for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2010 to 2011. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Manila Times